Clark D. Wells, PhD

Bio

I received my undergraduate degree in Biology from the University of Kentucky. My Ph.D. was subsequently carried out with Dr. Paul Sternweis in the Pharmacology department at UTSW.  I then trained with Dr. Tony Pawson at Mount Sinai as a post-doctoral fellow. My graduate work elaborated basic mechanisms of G-protein signaling which I then applied to understand epithelial cell polarity during my time as a post-doctoral fellow.  In 2006, I accepted a tenure-track position as an Assistant Professor at the Indiana University School of Medicine. I was promoted to an associate professor with tenure in 2011-12.  My work with Dr. Pawson identified that members of the Angiomotin family of proteins function as scaffolds that direct the assembly of polarity protein complexes. We also found that Angiomotin proteins strongly impacted the intracellular trafficking of these complexes to control overall cell shape.  My laboratory at Indiana University has gone on to determine how Angiomotin proteins coordinate “polarity” signaling with the control of the HIPPO pathway, a master regulator of cell growth.  We have mainly been studying these systems as part of an early and important mechanism to maintain mammary epithelial cell function and how its dysregulation contributes to breast tumor development.